Terry Jones - d. January 21st 2020

Do not adjust your 
mindset: both sheds 
are empty, the organ 
silent. Even the mint 
is still in its wrapper, 
and nobody expected
that. 

Read about Terry Jones here

Derek Fowlds - d. January 17th 2020

I, Mr Derek, 
was a humble functionary,
in the service of Government;
You were a careerist pen-pusher
at the whim of incompetents;
He was a mindless lickspittle
who sold his intellect for an OBE

Read about Derek Fowlds here

Tony Garnett - d. January 12th 2020

The last cob of coal

falls to ash in the grate.

The welfare gruel

is served cold on the plate.

The junction is frozen,

the producer is late.

read about Tony Garnett here

Neil Peart - d. January 7th 2020

There are no more fills,
no more solos, no fools:
the drum stool cools.
You took up the songs
where cymbals sing.
Now, a farewell to things.

Read about Neil Peart here

Neil Innes - d. December 29th 2019

It’s a dog day down
on Doubleback Alley.
Death cab draws up
to take the sweetest idiot
to a place where it is
forever Rutland.

read about Neil Innes here

Kenny Lynch - d. December 18th 2019

Tell us your story again:
how it was harder back then
to work your act with truth,
fight to be up there on the roof,
win hearts with just that smile,
some jokes, some songs, all style.

read about Kenny Lynch here

Nicky Henson - d. December 15th 2019

I like your charms.
What do they signify?
The left one’s a camera,
the right one’s a script.
And the one in the middle?
A dog turd. Don’t ask.

read about Nicky Henson here

Peter Snell - d. December 12th 2019

From the bottom of the world,
a colossus of breath, the cold 
wind of your name, your heels
distant as you storm the miles.

read about Peter Snell here

David Bellamy - d. December 11th 2019

You'll recognise
this species
by its foliage, 
hanging off trees,
jostling with plants,
shifting the soil:
a rare variety, found
in few locations.

Read about David Bellamy here

Bob Willis - d. December 4th 2019

When looking back
they will not tell
of futile spells
on lifeless tracks
but eyes like steel,
the arm a blur,
the win secured,
the miracle, real.

Read about Bob Willis here

Jonathan Miller - d. November 27th 2019

In opera, a man sings
when he dies, songs
of the lonely body, long 
Godless nights, songs sung
for those that do not flinch
at complicated things, songs
that live beyond the fringe. 

read about Jonathan Miller here

Clive James - d. November 24th 2019

I learned the value of everything
from you, most human of beings,
how to observe the crystal bucket,
not just watching, but seeing.

read about Clive James here

Andrea Newman - d. November 9th 2019

Oh, the lessons I learned:
from you: the joy of lust,
the tragedy of guilt, the 
rightness in the wrong.
625 lines, all dripping
with forbidden fruit.

Read about Andrea Newman here

Raymond Poulidor - d. November 13th 2019

The air is thinning, crowds
parting. At last, your wheel
leads all, a breakaway none 
could ever catch, in a jersey
only you could ever wear.

read about Raymond Poulidor here

Alison Prince - d. 12th October 2019

Write
Write
Fragments of light
Ring those
Town Hall
Chimes

Tell
Tell
Stories that spell
How we're 
Changed by
Time

Read about Alison Prince here

Alexei Leonov - d. October 11th 2019

Step again
from the tin can
into the stillness
of low earth orbit.
This time, though,
the hatch clangs
behind you, and
even these words
are weightless.

Read about Alexei Leonov here

Stephen Moore - d. October 4th 2019

I think you ought to know
I’m very depressed. I mean,
the dullness of stars is all so
predictable, each death scene
a tedious inevitability. Life?
Don’t talk to me about life.

Read about Stephen Moore here

Ginger Baker - d. October 6th 2019

They set fire to your kit today,
skins peeling, burning birch.
You confronted the ashes, 
flailing, primal, murder 
in your eyes. Condition: blue, 
waiting for the bringdown.

Read about Ginger Baker here

Peter Sissons - d. October 1st 2019

The air vibrates
in sympathy to the day,
to the receding storm of news.
The viewer waits
for you to pause, and say
Newsnight is starting on BBC2

Read about Peter Sissons here

Jessye Norman - d. September 30th 2019

Now we shall sing
your four last songs:
The Grand Mansion;
Ariadne Released;
The Untamed Falcon;
Faster. Higher. Stronger. 

Read about Jessye Norman here